The heavy-metal band, starring Ozzy Osbourne, kicked off its North American tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

The heavy-metal band, starring Ozzy Osbourne, kicked off its North American tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath

Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath

Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath

Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Geezer Butler and Osbourne

Geezer Butler and Osbourne

Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Photo: Dave Rossman / For the Houston Chronicle

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Black Sabbath at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

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Legendary heavy-metal act and doom overlords Black Sabbath returned to the Houston area on Thursday night, kicking off their U.S. tour at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in front of a humidity-soaked crowd of thousands.

Metalheads of all ages convened together to revisit the British act’s cauldron of hits. Did I spy three generations of metal in one row of seats? Yes, I did. Did I see some vintage Ozzy tees that made me thirsty with jealousy? Of course. Are a lot of the people who were at the show going to be nursing headbanging neck aches this morning? Yes, and please pass the Aleve. I hadn’t seen this many sweaty skullets since my last Iron Maiden show.

From “War Pigs” to “Paranoid”, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and Ozzy Osbourne didn’t exactly turn back the clock to 1970, but they did their catalog justice, which at their ages is a secondary worry. Iommi dishes out all the classic evil riffs with precision, and Butler is a stunning, thunderous, and percussive as ever. His work on “Children Of The Grave”, the second to last song on the setlist, stood out the most.Butler got to showcase more of his bass chops during the bridge from “Behind The Wall of Sleep” to “N.I.B.” proving he is vastly underrated. Or maybe I’m just reading the wrong magazines.

As for Ozz, his voice retains it’s signature yarble, but he’s attached to a teleprompter to guide him on lyrics, making him only mobile during instrumental breaks. But hey, you try to remember a song you wrote in the first Nixon administration word for word after you’ve been Ozzy Osbourne for 64 years. Let’s give the Prince Of Darkness a doom pass. Be sure to check out that picture in the gallery above of him leaping the air, it’s pretty great. That’s a man in his element.

If anything at this point in their lives, songs about mortality and the grave sound perverse, just the way I like it. Meanwhile, most people are just thrilled they don’t need to have oxygen treatments onstage.

This wasn’t the complete classic Sabbath lineup though. Osbourne’s solo band drummer Tommy Clufetos is subbing for original drummer Bill Ward, who has chosen not to join the fold this time around due to a contract dispute, or performance issues, depending on who is being interviewed. Clufetos is an incredible athletic drummer and gave Ozzy and the gang a shot of speed, revitalizing dirges decades old.

The setlist was a perfect mix of hits and bedrock album cuts. It was great to hear “Methademic” from the new album released just last month. “Dirty Women” from 1976’s Technical Ecstasy album was a surprise, the naughty backing video didn’t hurt either. The vintage footage of topless, buxom women playing during the six-minute song probably made a fifth grader’s night out in the seats.

Why were they selling a weed-tastic “Sweet Leaf” Sabbath tee at the merch table but didn’t play the song itself? Come on guys, know your market! It was stanky all over.

The production isn’t too flashy, and the video accompaniments are infused with drugs, sex, and death, with a dash of war. You know, all the cool stuff that makes heavy metal great.

Here’s hoping Sabbath gets another chance to come back through Houston on this current reunion tour. I’d love to have them return with a whole different batch of classic album tracks in tow. As long as the keep playing “Snowblind,” that is.